LOTS OF PEOPLE ARE ON ALERT FOR THE APPROACHING FLU SEASON, BUT STATE HEALTH OFFICIALS WANT YOU TO KNOW ABOUT ANOTHER SERIOUS CONCERN. PERTUSSIS - OTHERWISE KNOWN AS WHOOPING COUGH. KOAT ACTION 7 NEWS REPORTER ANGELA BRAUER IS LIVE THIS MORNING. ANGELA -- HOW CONCERNED IS THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT ABOUT THIS? MARISA -- THEY ARE VERY CONCERNED AND FOR GOOD REASON. WE OBTAINED THESE STATISTICS, AND IT'S STARLING TO SEE HOW PERTUSSIS IS POPPING UP IN NEW MEXICO, IN UNPRECEDENTED NUMBERS . nat pop of coughing PERTUSSIS, WHOOPING COUGH... WHATEVER YOU WANT TO CALL IT, HUNDREDS OF CASES ARE PLAGUING NEW MEXICO. "6:58 we're very concerned " RECORDS SHOW MORE CASES THIS YEAR, THAN EVER. WITH MORE THAN 300 CONFIRMED CASES STATEWIDE AND 88 MORE INCIDENTS LISTED AS "PROBABLE," WHOOPING COUGH, THE NEW MEXICO HEALTH DEPARTMENT IS NOW URGING PEOPLE EVERYWHERE TO GET THE VACCINE! ESPECIALLY IF... "7:21 youre pregnant if your living in a household with a pregnant woman or a woman who just had a baby" WE'RE TOLD ANYONE CAN GET PERTUSSIS, EVEN ADULTS .... BUT IT CAN BE FATAL IN BABIES... UNDER ONE YEAR OLD... EVEN IF THEY'RE HEALTHY OTHERWISE... THAT'S WHY THE DEPARTMENT IS SO WORRIED. nat cough PLUS, IT CAN SOMETIMES BE HARD TO CATCH. "it might look like the common cold" THE DEPARTMENT SAYS IF YOU'VE HAD FITS OF COUGHING, SOMETIMES SO BAD YOU WANT TO VOMIT, OR IF YOUR COUGH HAS LASTED WEEKS ON END... IT'S TIME FOR YOU TO GO TO THE DOCTOR. AT THIS POINT, STATE OFFICIALS SAY THERE HAVE NOT BEEN ANY DEATHS RELATED TO PERTUSSIS THIS YEAR... WHICH IS BETTER THAN 2012, WHEN TWO PEOPLE DIED. IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR A VACCINE, ASK YOUR PRIMARY CARE DOCTORS FOR INFORMATION AVAILABLE. AB, KOAT ATN MITM U.N.M. SCRAMBLES TO FIND A SOLUTION TO A PLAYER PROBLEM -- THE TOP 2

Hillary Clinton's office said "nothing nefarious was at play" when the former secretary of state used her personal email address, rather than one provided by the State Department, during her four years as America's top diplomat.